Burling last name popularity, history, and meaning

Find out how popular the last name Burling is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Burling.

Meaning of Burling

A locational surname derived from a place name, possibly related to the Old English term "burna" meaning stream or spring.

Burling, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Burling surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Burling in America

Burling is the 18440th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Burling surname appeared 1,501 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Burling.

We can also compare 2010 data for Burling to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 18440 19752 -6.87%
Count 1,501 1,262 17.30%
Proportion per 100k 0.51 0.47 8.16%

The history of the last name Burling

The surname Burling is of Anglo-Saxon origin, derived from the Old English word "burna" meaning a stream or brook. It is believed to have originated in England, specifically in areas with a significant presence of water sources such as streams or brooks.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Burnling." This entry suggests that the name was already in use during the Norman Conquest of England.

By the 13th century, the name had evolved into various spellings, including Burling, Burlinge, and Burlyng. These variations were often associated with specific locations where families bearing the name resided, such as Burling in Essex or Burlinghouse in Yorkshire.

John Burling (c. 1500 - 1567), an English politician and landowner, served as a Member of Parliament for Guildford during the reign of Queen Mary I.

In the 17th century, Edward Burling (1635 - 1717) was a prominent Quaker minister who played a significant role in the establishment of the Religious Society of Friends in New Jersey, United States.

Moving into the 18th century, Thomas Burling (1718 - 1793) was a notable English architect responsible for designing several churches and country houses in the Palladian style.

Sir Walter Wyndham Burling (1820 - 1900), born in India, was a British army officer and diplomat who served as the Governor of Madras from 1886 to 1890.

In the 20th century, Edward Burling (1892 - 1966) was an influential American lawyer and co-founder of the prestigious law firm Covington & Burling LLP in Washington D.C.

These are just a few examples of individuals who have borne the surname Burling throughout history, reflecting its long-standing presence and evolution across various regions and time periods.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Burling

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Burling.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

  1. White only
  2. Black only
  3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
  4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
  5. Hispanic
  6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Burling was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 92.01% 1,381
Non-Hispanic Black Only 1.00% 15
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 1.00% 15
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.73% 11
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 2.13% 32
Hispanic Origin 3.13% 47

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Burling has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 92.01% 92.63% -0.67%
Black 1.00% 2.61% -89.20%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.00% 0.48% 70.27%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.73% 0.48% 41.32%
Two or More Races 2.13% 0.79% 91.78%
Hispanic 3.13% 3.01% 3.91%

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Burling was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Burling, please contact us.

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"Burling last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on July 3, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/burling-surname-popularity/.

"Burling last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/burling-surname-popularity/. Accessed 3 July, 2025

Burling last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/burling-surname-popularity/.

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